NC State men's basketball hires assistant coach Mike Roberts
NC State officially announced another addition to its 2023-2024 coaching staff Tuesday afternoon. After coaching the past two seasons at Cincinatti, Mike Roberts joined the Wolfpack.
The new NC State assistant brings a wealth of experience to Raleigh that includes stops with the Bearcats, Indiana, the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Rice and California. Recent NCAA rule changes grant Division-I programs two additional assistant coaches who can have no off-campus recruiting responsibilities.
Roberts will fill one of those slots alongside Steve Snell, who has worked as the program’s director of basketball operations since 2020. Snelll will remain in that role moving forward in addition to his new coaching responsibilities.
Assistant coaches Joel Justus, Kareem Richardson and Levi Watkins all hold the same positions and, along with head coach Kevin Keatts, they can all recruit off campus.
Before jumpstarting his coaching journey at Texas Tech as a graduate assistant for head coach Bob Knight, Roberts played his collegiate career with Indiana. Following a brief stint with the Red Raiders, he accepted a video coordinator position with California in 2006 before his promotion to assistant coach the following year.
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Rice hired Roberts as an assistant coach in 2008, and he spent four seasons with the Owls. He then joined Wes Miller’s staff at UNC Greensboro, reaching the NCAA tournament in 2018 during an eight-season tenure.
After departing for his Alma Mater, he helped Indiana sign the No. 11 recruiting class in the nation, according to On3. Per NC State’s press release, five of Roberts’ past seven seasons ended with 20 or more wins. Cincinatti finished the 2022-2023 season 23-13 and 11-7 in the American Athletic Conference, reaching the NIT and advancing to the third round.
In the Wolfpack’s press release, Keatts shared his thoughts on the recent hire.
“I’m excited to welcome Mike to our staff,” Keatts said. “He went into coaching the minute his playing career ended, and he’s won a lot of games both as a coach and a player. I was really impressed by Mike throughout the interview process and think he is a great fit with our staff and program. He has a wealth of knowledge, and he’s going to make our players better on and off the court.”
NC State has two known game dates going into the 2023-2024 season. The Wolfpack will travel to Ole Miss Nov. 28 in the ACC/SEC challenge, and the Pack will play Tennessee in San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 16.
